World Bank: Afghanistan’s economy is growing again economy

The World Bank said that Afghanistan’s economy is showing slight signs of growth this year after two years of sharp contraction.

The bank stated – in its latest report issued yesterday evening, Wednesday – that it expects Afghanistan’s economy to grow during the current year by 2.7% of gross domestic product, driven by private spending, and the partial recovery coincided with a decline in food prices, which helped in the partial improvement of the living conditions of Afghans.

Afghanistan’s economy was heavily dependent on foreign aid, and corruption was widespread before the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

After the Taliban returned to power three years ago, the freezing of billions of dollars in international funds, and the flight of tens of thousands of highly skilled Afghans from the country and the taking of their money, pushed the economy into a state of recession.

At the same time, Afghanistan’s exports remained stable during 2023 and 2024 while imports increased, leading to a higher trade deficit, according to the World Bank.

Increasing disability

This deficit was exacerbated by reliance on imports to provide necessary needs, such as fuel, food, and machinery, which could represent a threat to the country’s economic stability.

The World Bank’s Afghanistan Department Director, Fares Haddad Zervos, said that the potential for long-term growth requires exploiting the great potential of the local private sector and improving the business environment in general.

Haddad Zervos added, “The basis of this is increasing investment, facilitating small businesses’ access to financing, and supporting educated, skilled women entrepreneurs so that their businesses can flourish… Without this, the country is at risk of stagnation for a long period with limited prospects for sustainable development.”

He looked forward to a different relationship with Trump

Last month, after announcing Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections, the Taliban-led Afghan government said that it wanted a new beginning with the United States during the era of the elected president, and to secure its access, after a long wait, to more than $9 billion from the country’s foreign exchange reserves that were frozen by President Joe’s administration. Biden 3 years ago.

Bloomberg News Agency at the time quoted the head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, Muhammad Suhail Shaheen, as saying in a text message, “We seek to write a new chapter in relations with the next Trump administration, and we want it to reciprocate that.”
“We want to unfreeze all the reserves of Da Afghanistan Bank (Afghan Central Bank) and return them to us,” Shaheen added.

Establishing a normal relationship with the United States would help Afghanistan gain international recognition for its government, and the money would be a major relief for cash-strapped Kabul, which is struggling to rebuild an economy devastated by sanctions and loss of control of the country.